When 15-year-old trans teen L.P. landed herself in the Philadelphia juvenile detention center, a judge told the staff to give her hormone therapy and due respect. Instead, the staff refused to call her by her female name, refused her access to female clothing and grooming options, and refused to stop other residents from insulting her. The residents regularly called L.P. “a wanna-be girl,” “a faggot” and even attacked her. Once a staffer told her, “You ain’t no fucking female, you are a dude… Till you get your dick cut off, I’m not going to call you [by your female name.]” She endured this kind of treatment for almost a year and a half.

Then in October 2009 Lambda Legal filed a complaint with the city’s Commission on Human Relations citing the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Youth Study Center (YSC) where L.P. stayed for violation of the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance prohibiting harassment and discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, and disability. This week, they finally reached a resolution.

The resolution now requires YSC to give and gender non-conforming youth hormone therapy, a single room, acknowledgement by their preferred name and pronoun, and access to their preferred clothing and grooming options. DHS will also give LGBT training to all YSC workers on LGBT issues and treatment.

L.P. is now 18 and happy with the settlement, part of which included an undisclosed amount paid to her by the city. She said, “I hope that these changes will ensure that no other young transgender person experiences the physical and emotional abuse that I experienced at the Youth Study Center.”

I’m surprised that they were told to give hormone therapy to a 15 year old. Was she emancipated or did her parents want her to receive the drugs?

Aug 19, 2011 at 7:49 am · @Reply ·

Daez

I didn’t realize that people should get special rights (or any rights for that matter) in prison. Its even more detestable that tax payers had to fit the bill for the actions of a few individuals.

When people look at ENDA and other non-discrimination cases they look at shit like this and realize that adding protections under the law in almost all cases is going to cost more money than its worth.

Yes, why should people be protected from being fired if they are women? Why should people be protected from being harassed in prison by the guards because of their race? Gee, that costs money so it shouldn’t be done.

Aug 19, 2011 at 8:43 am · @Reply ·

Mike in Asheville

@Daez: That’s right, bash a 15 year-old, wow, what a big man you are. Go troll the sewers where you belong.

Several years ago I was talking to a friend who had just settled an obviously frivolous lawsuit against his company and I asked him why he’d do such a stupid thing.

He replied, “It would cost me three times the settlement costs to win the Damned case so we settled and moved on.” In other words, he settled because losing in the short term saved him money at the end of the day. Government programs like this work the same way.

If providing a few ‘luxuries’ such as hormone treatments or women’s clothing helps create an atmosphere in which fewer resources are needed in other areas (extra guards to control escalating violence, medical care for injuries, lawsuits for discriminatory treatment, turning a juvi into a career criminal who feeds on the system for life, etc…) the costs are well worth the investment of a few extra dollars and more humane treatment today. This decision will actually save money.

Or you can believe the Ron Paul/Libertarian fantasy that everyone should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps regardless of their circumstances and fuck anyone who can’t. Your choice.

Aug 19, 2011 at 10:13 am · @Reply ·

Daez

@Cam: We are long past the point that Affirmative Action and other policies are completely pointless. Adding ENDA is almost as pointless. The policies simply don’t work in many cases and in the few cases they do work they normally manage to encourage more disdain than anything else.

@Mike in Asheville: I’m not bashing her/him/it. I’m simply stating that the prison system shouldn’t have to pay for the gender reassignment treatment.

@orpheus_lost: For starters, this case was only allowed to come because the city in question included gender identity in its non-discrimination clause. Anywhere that that is not happening (like in the vast majority of the country) there would have been no case.

Also, there is very little you can do to deter a criminal from being a criminal. Rehabilitation doesn’t work now and never has.

You are responsible for making it on your own in this country. The government is not responsible to help you. This country has many more opportunities than a great deal of other countries. If you can’t succeed, sucks to be you.

Aug 19, 2011 at 10:45 am · @Reply ·

blassr

@daez
thats your argument? if there wasnt a law thered be no suit? youre a troll and this will be the last reply you recv from me.

hopefully more of the good ppl around here will ignore you also.

Aug 19, 2011 at 10:56 am · @Reply ·

Daez

@blassr: Truth hurts? Why do you think so many states are continually refusing to pass laws that protect good working gay lesbian men and women. Its because people like this will take advantage of them, and this will just be another counter argument next time the issue comes up in many state and federal legislatures.

In addition, YSC staff subjected the girl to ridicule and cruel and degrading treatment and allowed abuse by residents on a daily basis.
She endured verbal harassment, including slurs such as: “You’re a faggot,” “Wanna-be-girl,” “You are not a girl,” and “You will never be a girl.” On several occasions, the verbal harassment escalated to physical attacks.

But Daez thinks it’s just fine if people perceived to be gay or lesbian are bashed – as long as they’re not actually gay or lesbian, just Trans.

“You are responsible for making it on your own in this country. The government is not responsible to help you.”

Unless you’re gay, in which case, there should be “laws that protect good working gay lesbian men and women”? And let me guess, you want the government to provide the special right for you to marry too?

Aug 19, 2011 at 11:47 am · @Reply ·

JayKay

Free, unnecessary medical treatment, private rooms, and the ability to pick and choose their wardrobe, all on the taxpayer’s dime.

Outrageous and truly, truly disgusting.

Aug 19, 2011 at 12:07 pm · @Reply ·

Daez

@Shit Like This: Let me guess…you are trans? Prove my point further for me. Trans people attack gays and lesbians all the time but I’m supposed to kiss their ass why exactly?

Aug 19, 2011 at 12:08 pm · @Reply ·

Daez

@Shit Like This: Let me guess…you are trans? Prove my point further for me. Trans people attack gays and lesbians all the time but I’m supposed to kiss their ass why exactly?

@Zoe Brain: Actually, I feel you lose the right to be treated as a human being when you stop acting like one. In my ideal society prisons would be a lot different and we wouldn’t have courts deciding inmates need any rights at all.

One wonders why people who cannot treat others with basic human decency would seek employment in a field where they must work with people all day?

Seriously, what does it cost to be considerate and use a particular pronoun?

The pointless expense here is requiring lawsuits and the intervention of the judicial system to compel healthcare professionals to behave sensibly, and — heaven forfend — professionally.

Aug 19, 2011 at 12:11 pm · @Reply ·

Daez

@the crustybastard: You are completely right. While being treated like shit by inmates, guards should kiss every inmates ass and make sure they treat them with the kiddy gloves. Why don’t you go work in a prison and the next time someone has a shiv to your throat because they didn’t get their cigarettes that day, you can make sure you treat them with the utmost respect while begging for your life.

In short, no one can handle treating people that behave like demons like angels 100% of the time.

You defend Brandon McInerney, and attack this person? It’s clear you support any, and all abuse that queer youth suffer at the hands of heterosexuals.

Aug 19, 2011 at 12:17 pm · @Reply ·

Daez

@Mr. Enemabag Jones: One couldn’t take no for the answer. The other was in prison. Give me a self-respecting gay or lesbian that lives life without trying to make it harder on others and I will gladly support them.

“We are long past the point that Affirmative Action and other policies are completely pointless. Adding ENDA is almost as pointless. The policies simply don’t work in many cases and in the few cases they do work they normally manage to encourage more disdain than anything else.”
__________________________________________

Actually you are wrong for 2 reasons.

1. There are still multiple states where it is legal to fire gays just for being gay.

2. You state that the policies don’t work, and if they do they mostly just cause disdain.

Lets see your facts. Prove that preventing people from firing others because of racial or gender reasons doesn’t work and actually causes harm.

You can’t.

Aug 19, 2011 at 12:30 pm · @Reply ·

dvlaries

My grandmother worked at the Philadelphia Youth Study Center for 20 years till 1970. I’m sure it’s much worse now (both to be confined and as a work environment) but it was then a place where youthful offenders awaited trial in cases where bail couldn’t be made, or a judge wouldn’t allow bail or the recognizance of adult guardians. Typical schoolyard fights didn’t land you there.

Nothing excuses the treatment by this staff, I don’t quarrel with the settlement, but the article also chooses not to tell us what landed L.P. there in the first place. Let’s recognize, at least, that there’s a question on L.P.’s own law abiding status also, perhaps even a victim of L.P.’s own, who thinks she or he has a piece of change coming too.

Let’s not forget that many LGBT youth are kicked out of their homes resulting in a high rate of homelessness. Without other means to support themselves many of these youth resort to theft, prostitution, etc. Yes, what they are doing is illegal but is more a symptom of the real problem.

I volunteer with a youth group that provides support, counseling, and even emergency housing for LGBT youth. I would encourage folks to support local organizations such as this or start one if it doesn’t.

I don’t know the details of L.P.’s story but I hope she can get her life together and have a successful future.

So your grandmother, (who was no doubt biased, being an employee, in what capacity you never state,) disparaged the populace of a youth detention center, that she stopped working at 41 years ago. And that gives you all the insight you need to make a judgement about this 15 year old?

In other words, she was locked up, therefor deserved to be abused for 18 months, for no other reason than being trans.

Aug 19, 2011 at 1:06 pm · @Reply ·

Daez

@missanthrope: Gender therapy is NOT medical treatment. They didn’t deny her insulin.

@Paige: Yes, they are just innocent helpless victims. That guy they gave HIV to because they whored around unprotected or that person they just robbed at gun point aren’t victims. The poor innocent gay, lesbian and trans children are all victims of this cruel, cruel world.

Then you go on to point out that not only are there alternatives to crime for these teens, but that you actually work for one. Hmm!

Aug 19, 2011 at 1:10 pm · @Reply ·

Daez

@Mr. Enemabag Jones: You need some reading comprehension lessons. All he said is that teens don’t go to this detention center unless there is a reason. He implied that the city shouldn’t have to pay for elective treatments.

I don’t see many people all rallied up because some chick in prison wants a boob job. Maybe we should suddenly allow a free for all of elective surgeries and treatments on the city/county/state dime.

I have no problem with trans people transitioning on their OWN dime, but they shouldn’t expect me to pay for it, and that dime they have better not have been gotten through illegitimate methods.

That guy they gave HIV to because they whored around unprotected or that person they just robbed at gun point aren’t victims.

Do you really expect to be taken seriously, when you claim that all gay teens are out spreading HIV, and robbing people at gun point?

The poor innocent gay, lesbian and trans children are all victims of this cruel, cruel world.

The poor innocent gay, lesbian and trans children are all victims of this cruel, cruel straight world.

There, fixed it for you.

Aug 19, 2011 at 1:14 pm · @Reply ·

Daez

@Mr. Enemabag Jones: Still, you can OBVIOUSLY not read, because if you could you would realize that those comments were made in response to someone claiming that prostitutes and thieves are truly just “victims.”

All he said is that teens don’t go to this detention center unless there is a reason.

He based his comment on something a family member told him about this center, after leaving it 41 ears ago. It’s based on the recollections of someone, not on his personal experience.

He implied that the city shouldn’t have to pay for elective treatments.

No, you wrote that.

I don’t see many people all rallied up because some chick in prison wants a boob job.

Since we’re not debating that, that argument is moot. Please stick to the topic at hand.

Maybe we should suddenly allow a free for all of elective surgeries and treatments on the city/county/state dime.

Since hormone treatment for gender reassignment was ordered by the judge, the order must be followed. Just like the order to put this person in a youth detention facility was followed. You don’t seem to have an issue with that ruling being followed.

I have no problem with trans people transitioning on their OWN dime,

Considering your ENDA rant, I think the above statement belies your true feelings. And this isn’t the first time you attacked trans people, Daez.

but they shouldn’t expect me to pay for it,

And should taxpayers expect to pay for your roads, police protection, etc.? We all pay for things we don’t want to pay for.

and that dime they have better not have been gotten through illegitimate methods.

I see taxpayers didn’t pay for your education.

That was almost a complete sentence, and coherent thought. Want to try writing that again, and actually make sense this time?

Aug 19, 2011 at 1:31 pm · @Reply ·

slanty

@Mr. Enemabag Jones: Hey, dude, this is a comment section, not a forum thread. Wakey wakey?

those comments were made in response to someone claiming that prostitutes and thieves are truly just “victims.”

Paige stated that queer youth who are kicked out of their homes sometimes turn to prostitution, and theft. You however have painted all young gay offenders as cut-throat criminals out to steal your precious tax dollars.

Do you know how many gay youth are locked up simply for being homeless?

@Mr. Enemabag Jones: Babbling, huh? That’s a rude way to put it. I’m asking you if you’re half-asleep or something, even in the middle of the afternoon.

Aug 19, 2011 at 1:42 pm · @Reply ·

xander

Daez boldly stumbles onto topics that he doesn’t understand: 1) He mistakes ENDA with Affirmative Action, and thus he confounds jail with jobs. 2) He forgets AMA and World Health Org. consider treatment for transexuals the same as they consider treatment for diabetics and people needing kidney transplants, among others.

Ignorance such as his stems from too much exposure to talk radio and narrow mental bandwidth.
/\
It’s so good to hear that YSC got called to task for their mistreatment of the teen and that she’ll receive appropriate care. The prison industrial complex is turning into a for-profit system that neither reforms nor rehabilitates.

@Daez: Appropriate medical/psychiatric care is not a special right and something all inmates anywhere should have access to.

Aug 19, 2011 at 2:00 pm · @Reply ·

mike128

@ Deaz: I also think that anyone who refers to trans people as “it” should be banned from this site for hate speech – although on the other hand commenters like you remind us all why we have to continue to be active, I guess even within our own community.

Aug 19, 2011 at 2:06 pm · @Reply ·

Paige [Different person #1 using similar name]

@Daez
Wow… reading and comprehension really aren’t your forte.
I never said the ALL LGBT youth are innocent victims. And if the guy got aids from whoring around unprotected… well that’s his damn fault. I happen to know quite a few kids who are not victims… nowhere close to victims.

From your ill conceived rant you sound like you are AGAINST helping LGBT youth to prevent them from ending up in juvie/jail/prison.

And for the record I don’t work for that organization… I VOLUNTEER there. I’m an adult transwoman who has a very successful life. I was fortunate where many are not. So I give a little back to the youth as a mentor. I hope to increase their odds of turning out to be confident, successful LGBT adults.

And all of this is done without one red cent from any taxpayer $. It’s all done with donations and volunteer work. So do sit down and shut up about things you know nothing about.

Aug 19, 2011 at 2:21 pm · @Reply ·

Riker

Hmmm, i’m on the fence about this one. I agree with Daez that the government should not have to pay for private rooms or hormone therapy, unless medically necessary. However, if the accused has private insurance or can pay on their own, she should be allowed to have the hormones.

As far as wardrobe it doesn’t cost the taxpayer extra to give all inmates the choice of male or female garment.

As far as harassment by the guards, it is simply uncalled for.

Gay and trans prisoners should have the same rights as the rest of the prison population – very little.

“However, if the accused has private insurance or can pay on their own, she should be allowed to have the hormones.”

This is what people don’t seen to understand, the vast majority of insurance plans don’t cover trans health care. In fact if you’ve received hormones or SRS, it’s often grounds to qualify as a preexisting condition, thereby disqualifying us from insurance period.

Transition, as shown through peer reviewed studies and endorsed by the AMA, is the most successful manner to treat gender dysphoria, it is a medically necessary treatment to avoid avoid horrible depression, stress, and often suicide (about a third to half of trans people attempt). You don’t just say “well, you should pay for that triple-bypass if you can afford it”.

I don’t know why there is this double standard with trans health care and other health treatments, being trans isn’t a choice, people don’t transition for kicks and giggles when we have cretins like Daez treating us as less than human. We have the right to access the same quality of health that everyone else has.

Aug 19, 2011 at 3:21 pm · @Reply ·

Oh Dear (John From England)

Whether it’s people like Daez or GOproud or even Karger, you guys need to wak up and realize that you also have enemies in your community. I say you guys because it is different in the UK.

Furthermore Queerty rallied up it’s comments to not only not vote for Obama but to paint the Democrats as antigay.

So Daez shouldn’t be banned because his opinion fits in with the editors of this site.

Aug 19, 2011 at 3:33 pm · @Reply ·

slanty [Different person #2 using similar name]

@Oh Dear (John From England): GOProud definitely doesn’t get it, but I think Karger realizes that almost all Republicans are anti-gay. I don’t know why he still runs as a Republican.

Aug 19, 2011 at 3:38 pm · @Reply ·

ewe

Did any of those incompetent employees lose their jobs?

Aug 19, 2011 at 4:02 pm · @Reply ·

ewe

@Daez: What do you mean that the government is not responsible for helping the citizenry? Have you ever heard of the fire dept. the police dept, the courts, the parks, the streetcleaners? The list goes on and on and on. You are being discriminatory and your defense for doing so does not come from a place of being informed.

Aug 19, 2011 at 4:07 pm · @Reply ·

Henry

Isn’t it strange how someone who believes in fate has such a hard time accepting the death of his beautiful mutt of a baby girl, and the fact that his wife of ten years left him? You’d think he would get over it like a man. Everything in life has a reason, after all.

Aug 19, 2011 at 4:11 pm · @Reply ·

o

@Henry: How dare you say that she’s a mutt. Charles Rozier made a calculation. He couldn’t become white, because that was impossible, outside of his fantasies. The next best thing for Charles, as a committed Nazi, was to instill white blood into the veins of his offspring.

Aug 19, 2011 at 4:19 pm · @Reply ·

Riker

@missanthrope: But why should taxpayers pay for prisoners to transition, if they don’t pay for noncitizens to transition? I love my trans brothers and sisters dearly, but I won’t finance your genitalia. I work hard and pay my taxes so that the government can provide necessary services to keep society running. They have a hard enough time doing that as it is.

If you are diagnosed with gender dysphoria, you have a medical condition and insurance companies should be required to pay for the appropriate treatment, as the case may be. As far as rpeexisting conditions, assuming that Obamacare stands intact, insurance companies won’t be able to drop you because of it.

A trans inmate is depressed? So are most of the cis prisoners. You know what helps with that? psychotherapy, which IIRC the system provides free of charge. Trans inmates have stress? Boo hoo, they don’t like being in prison. Maybe we should give them private rooms with Queen-sized beds, goose feather pillows and free massages every week.

Aug 19, 2011 at 7:36 pm · @Reply ·

Riker

@slanty: Ummm…maybe because he believes in lower taxes, free enterprise, small government, fiscal responsibility, and all that other good stuff that Republicans believe in and Democrats don’t? He IS a Republican. If you believe in 90% of the Republican platform and 10% of the Democratic platform, why on earth would you run as a Democrat?

Aug 19, 2011 at 7:40 pm · @Reply ·

Laughriotgirl

@Riker: etc. This isn’t a case of funding SRS. This is a case of maintaining a chemical balance in the body of an inmate. Drastic fluctuation in the levels of testosterone and estrogen can have serious physical implications. Should a post menopausal woman on the same treatment be denied her meds in jail? While there are profound emotional changes that includes depression, there are serious and significant risks to the patient’s physical heath (part of the reason we really should have a medical DR as part of our transition care).

Depending on the cause of the depression, psychotherapy can provide little to no releaf for the patient. If the cause is bio-chemical, the patient would be given appropriate medication (even in the jail). So, you are seriously advocating that a $50/ month prescription to maintain the physical and emotional health of a 15 year-old is some great sacrifice for the taxpayer?

Aug 20, 2011 at 1:57 am · @Reply ·

Riker

@Laughriotgirl: Medical necessity is an obvious exception to anything I say. If she has a chemical imbalance, of course medication should be given to correct it. However, nobody’s talking about taking her hormones away. How was she getting them before she was incarcerated? Private insurance? Parents paying? That’s how she should continue getting them.

Aug 20, 2011 at 2:32 am · @Reply ·

Jean

@Daez: What? You’re saying that we should be putting 15 year old kids under the jail? She didn’t hurt anyone, so why would we punish her to the fullest extent of the law? And frankly, regardless, I don’t know why being bullied and tortured by her jailers and her fellow inmates wasn’t enough punishment for you. Should we institute beatings? Starve people? Will that make America great again?

Aug 20, 2011 at 3:51 am · @Reply ·

Jean

@Daez: Holy snot, I should have read the rest of your BS before I responded to the first comment. You’re a Libertarian, a self hating homosexual who thinks that gay people need to act a certain way in order to be acceptable to you, you’re an ignoramus who thinks we no longer need Affirmative Action (because apparently you don’t think racism is a thing anymore) and you hate trans people because a few were omg meen to you (something I somehow think you earned). You’re a gross person. I just wanted you to know that.

@Jean: Whoa there, not all Libertarians agree with Daez’s statements, and it pays to be more precise with one’s condemnation. Particularly mean remarks are just that.

Aug 20, 2011 at 8:28 pm · @Reply ·

skzip888

I’m, guessing its not easy to get, honestly or dishonestly, private treatments from inside a correctional facility. Too many people use the correctional system to indulge their blatant prejudices just because prisoners, regardless of crime, are labeled as acceptable targets. The supreme court has ruled that allowing such harassment between prisoners violates the bill of rights, and I don’t think it’s “detestable” that John Galt might have to pay two extra cents on his tax return to uphold such a ruling.